The present invention relates generally to the field of communications and, more particularly, to a method, apparatus and system for completing a call when a called party has not answered the call.
In a mobile communications system, significant system resources are devoted to completing a call when the called party does not answer the call. For example, the mobile service center (xe2x80x9cMSCxe2x80x9d) associated with the called party or the central switch office of the network provider is programmed to xe2x80x9cforwardxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cdivertxe2x80x9d unanswered calls to a voice mail or unified messaging intelligent peripheral. These unanswered calls can be characterized by the generation of an xe2x80x9cannouncementxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cbusyxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cno-answerxe2x80x9d signal. The voice mail or unified messaging intelligent peripheral, which is a cumbersome, expensive and complex network component, then carries on a limited interaction with the calling party. The voice/unified mail intelligent peripheral completes the call by providing an announcement that the called party is unavailable and/or provides the calling party with the opportunity to leave a voice mail message for the called party. This online and timely content exchange is limited because message xe2x80x9ccompositionxe2x80x9d requires fairly complex interactions, such as xe2x80x9cPress 1 to leave a voice messagexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cPress 2 to leave a fax message.xe2x80x9d
In addition, this call completion process increases circuit switching within the network, reduces circuit quality and prolongs the duration or xe2x80x9cair-timexe2x80x9d of the connection (e.g., silence, hesitation, data rate, etc.). As a result, the network operator incurs increased operation and maintenance costs. In addition, the calling party and the called party are likely to incur additional expenses related to the prolonged xe2x80x9cair-timexe2x80x9d and the messaging service.
There is, therefore, a need for a method, apparatus and system for completing a call when a called party has not answered the call that eliminates or minimizes the previously described problems.
The present invention provides a flexible architecture that allows the calling party""s terminal to complete a call that has not been answered by the called party. Note that the present invention completes an interaction between the parties, rather than just completing a voice call. The functionality provided by the present invention can be implemented solely on the calling party""s terminal or split between the calling party""s terminal and the called party""s MSC. As a result, a network operator""s central office may reallocate xe2x80x9ccircuit switchingxe2x80x9d and voice channels for other context, while reducing real-time voice interaction constraints within the network. In addition, messaging content generated by the present invention is transmitted in less expensive xe2x80x9cdata circuitxe2x80x9d channels, such as the Internet.
For example, the present invention provides a method of completing a call when a called party has not answered the call from a calling party by detecting a signal indicating that the called party has not answered the call and terminating the call. A message is presented to the calling party that indicates the called party has not answered the call and prompts the calling party to compose a multimedia message to be delivered to the called party. The multimedia message is then sent to a multimedia messaging service server (xe2x80x9cMMS Serverxe2x80x9d) for subsequent delivery to the called party whenever the calling party completes composition of the multimedia message. As mentioned above, this method can implemented solely on the calling party""s terminal or split between the calling party""s terminal and the called party""s MSC. Moreover, this method can be implemented using a computer program embodied on a computer readable medium wherein each function is executed using a code segment.
In addition, the present invention provides a terminal capable of completing a call when a called party has not answered the call from a calling party. The terminal includes means for detecting a signal indicating that the called party has not answered the call, terminating the call, and presenting a message to the calling party indicating that the called party has not answered the call and prompting the calling party to compose a multimedia message to be delivered to the called party. The terminal also includes means for sending the multimedia message to a MMS Server for subsequent delivery to the called party whenever the calling party completes composition of the multimedia message.
The present invention also provides a system for completing a call when a called party has not answered the call from a calling party that includes a MMS Server and a terminal operated by the calling party that is communicably coupled to the MMS Server. The terminal detects a signal indicating that the called party has not answered the call, terminates the call, and presents a message to the calling party indicating that the called party has not answered the call and prompts the calling party to compose a multimedia message to be delivered to the called party. The terminal then sends the multimedia message to the MMS Server for subsequent delivery to the called party whenever the calling party completes composition of the multimedia message.
Moreover, the present invention provides a system for completing a call when a called party has not answered the call from a calling party that includes a MSC associated with the called party, a MMS Server and a terminal operated by the calling party. In a first configuration, the MSC detects a signal indicating that the called party has not answered the call, terminates the call, and sends the signal to the terminal to invoke a message. In a second configuration, the MSC detects the signal indicating that the called party has not answered the call, terminates the call, and sends an invoke message to the MMS Server. Also in the second configuration, the MMS Server is communicably coupled to the MSC and sends a message to the terminal indicating that the called party has not answered the call in response to the invoke message. In both configurations, the terminal, which is communicably coupled to the MSC and the MMS Server, presents the message to the calling party and prompts the calling party to compose a multimedia message to be delivered to the called party. The terminal then sends the multimedia message to the MMS Server for subsequent delivery to the called party whenever the calling party completes composition of the multimedia message.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.